5 Best Accounting Software to use in the UK


Quick links for the Best Accounting Software

Best Overall 🏆

Melio

The winner for its smooth workflow, focusing on exactly what you need in accounting software.

Read Review

Best For U.S. 🥈

ZarMoney

A sales-focused CRM that uses AI to automate repetitive tasks and manage leads and sales.

Read Review

Easiest To Use 🥉

Quickbooks

The industry leader & the incumbent. This will have the most integrations and support network.

Read Review


So, you are in the market for accounting software in the UK.

Ideal, because in this article we have our compilation list for our top picks, and we compare the features and pricing for you. 


If you just want the best choice, we’ve added that right at the top of the article as this was what is most requested by our customers and what we see the best feedback with. So, that’ll be the “can’t go wrong” option. 

Otherwise, feel free to explore all the options we’ve reviewed on the market to find something that might fit you a little better.

Enjoy the list!

The Best Accounting Software Specifically for the UK

As a business owner, having accounting software that organizes your finances and helps with tax calculation is a must. If you’re a business based in the UK, it’s crucial to account your expenditures to scale swiftly and maintain tax compliance to avoid the wrath of authorities. Have a look at the products below to choose the best accounting software in the UK:

1. Xero

Xero is an intuitive and beautiful accounting software that helps you run the money side of your business. You can create and send quotes, manage bills, sort bank transactions, chase payments and analyze financial data. Xero provides you with a cloud-based accounting platform, accessible invariably from any remote location.

Xero Features

Here are some exclusive features of Xero:

Bill Payments: Xero helps you make timely bill payments by providing a clear overview of accounts payable and cash flow. You can schedule and make batch payments, plus access all bills inside your Xero interface. With Xero, you can build good relations with suppliers by avoiding late payments and keep the money flowing timely.

Claim Expenses: Xero provides an expense manager to help you capture costs to reimburse expense claims. You can monitor employee spending and approve claims without delay. Additionally, you can use OCR technology to scan vital information and auto-fill your claim.

Bank Connections: Xero connects with your bank accounts and sets up a feed where transactions flow securely. You can set multiple feeds for different accounts. Xero lets you reconcile daily and provides; an accurate depiction of your business finances. All your bank transactions are securely imported between the Xero database and Bank.

Invoicing and Payments: Xero lets you accept payments online through Stripe, GoCardless and other integrations. You can generate invoices and add a “Pay Now” button to redirect clients to the payment gateway. Additionally, Xero offers excellent online protection from fraudulent activities and has an unbreachable database.

Project Tracking: Xero offers a job tracker helping you track costs and project profitability. You can prepare budgets by using cost estimates and send customized quotes. Moreover, Xero allows you to do location-based tracking on Mobile and seamlessly link costs to projects.

Xero Pricing

Xero offers 3 Pricing options for its Accounting software.

The “Starter” plan is priced at $22/month and allows you to send upto 20 invoices. You can reconcile bank transactions and capture bills or receipts through Hubdoc.

The “Standard” plan is priced at $35/month and offers bulk reconcile transactions. Moreover, you can manage short-term cash flow and get a business snapshot of your current finances.

The “Premium” plan is priced at $47/month and allows you to send unlimited invoices. You can use multiple currencies and access all accounting features of Xero.

Additionally, Xero offers 3 Add-on packs. The “Claim Expenses” is priced at $4/month, and The “Track Projects” and “Analytics” are priced at $7/month.

2. QuickBooks

QuickBooks helps businesses, freelancers, and self-employed people to properly account for their expenses and income. You can make payments to contractors or employees and maintain profitability by auto-tracking the expenditures. QuickBooks provides salient accounting features, enabling you to analyze your profit margins.

QuickBooks Features

Here are some exclusive features of QuickBooks:

Cloud Accounting: QuickBooks offers mobile access to its database and provides online banking integration, automatically updating your transactions and statements. You can monitor the real-time status of your expenses or invoices from anywhere and remotely handle the accounting. 

Business Funding and Income Tracking: QuickBooks syncs the bank transactions and tracks the total cash flow of your business. It helps you properly allocate funds to your business endeavours and maintain profit margins after operating costs. Additionally, you can create Tax-compliant invoices and track unpaid GST bills to remind clients about payment.

Online Banking: QuickBooks brings your banking activities online and offers One-click reconciliations. You can connect different bank accounts with QuickBooks and auto-categorize transactions to match expenses or invoices. QuickBooks enables you; to stay on top of your financial situation and maintain cash flow.

Accounting Reports: QuickBooks offers real-time insight into your business data and generates financial reports showcasing balance sheets, profit margins and cashflow statements. You can track all pending invoices and avoid chasing payments at the last second. QuickBooks offers customized data analysis helping you identify business trends.

Inventory Management: QuickBooks helps you easily handle the business inventory and get a real-time evaluation. Your inventory list is automatically updated whenever you make a sale or add a new product. QuickBooks helps you track your restock orders from the vendors and keep every sale recorded in the database.

QuickBooks Pricing

QuickBooks offers 4 Pricing options for its accounting software.

The “Simple Start” plan is priced at $25/month and offers general reports, receipt capture, plus mileage tracking. Additionally, you can manage tax deductions, incomes and expenses or invoices and payments.

The “Essentials” plan is priced at $50/month and offers enhanced reports, bill management, plus sales tax estimation. Additionally, you get 3 User accounts and can assign vendor payments to contractors.

The “Plus” plan is priced at $80/month and offers inventory management plus project profitability determiner. Additionally, you get 5 User accounts and can convert estimates to invoices.

The “Advanced” plan is priced at $180/month and offers customized access, on-demand training, data restoration, plus workflow automation. Additionally, you get more than 5 User accounts and can do business analytics with Excel or manage employee expenses.

3. FreshBooks

FreshBooks offers Bookkeeping and Accounting features to help businesses and freelancers organize their finances. It provides an easy-to-use interface built for regular users and accountants. FreshBooks is made for all business sizes and adapts according to your company’s accounting needs.

FreshBooks Features

Here are some exclusive features of FreshBooks:

Accounting and Reporting: FreshBooks offers double-entry accounting tools to ensure tax compliance and accuracy. It helps you comprehend the financial status of your business and make intelligent choices to grow your brand further. FreshBooks identifies revenue items and expenses, providing an accurate profit-loss margin. Moreover, your accountant can access intrinsic financial information and reporting whenever needed.

Payments and Estimates: FreshBooks seamlessly links with several online payment channels like Stripe. It lets your clients pay directly through the invoice without additional hidden fees. Additionally, FreshBooks allows you to set realistic expectations by eliminating the guesswork and doing data-driven estimates. You can convert your estimates into an invoice or create new proposals to win projects.

Time-Tracking: FreshBooks provides an inbuilt time-tracker that helps you accurately determine the task duration. FreshBooks automatically logs the time spent on the client project and enables you to prepare detailed invoices or keep track of employees’ working hours.

Mileage Tracking: FreshBooks offers a tracking application that automatically logs your business trips and saves your travel history. You can claim business trips as expenses during tax filings. FreshBooks records the total distance travelled by your business vehicle and various professional trips taken by you.

Client Management: FreshBooks enables you to prepare client estimates and build better relations by accurate billing. You can inform clients about the latest expenses and increase trust by improving connectivity. FreshBooks allows you to track loyalty discounts and foster loyalty with clients.

FreshBooks Pricing

FreshBooks offers 4 Pricing options for its accounting software.

The “Lite” plan is priced at $4.50/month and offers unlimited invoices to 5 clients. Additionally, you can track expenses and sales tax, send total estimates and get paid with credit cards or bank transfers.

The “Plus” plan is priced at $7.50/month and offers unlimited invoices to 50 clients. Additionally, you can automatically capture receipt data, send endless proposals, run business health reports and set up recurring billing or client retainers.

The “Premium” plan is priced at $15/month and removes all limitations on invoice recipients. Additionally, you can track project profitability, customize email signatures, run accounting reports and get paid with checkout links.

The “Custom” pricing option offers an on-demand quote. It removes the FreshBooks branding from the client emails and provides a dedicated account manager.

4. Sage 50 Cloud

Sage 50 Cloud offers robust accounting and finance capabilities to enhance work efficiency. It reduces the time spent on admin tasks and provides substantial clarity on your performance. Moreover, Sage offers a vast ecosystem of business and customer relation tools, making 50 Cloud ideal for ever-growing businesses.

Sage 50 Cloud Features

Here are some exclusive features of Sage 50 Cloud:

Cash Flow and Invoicing: Sage 50 Cloud offers a cash flow manager inside its platform, giving you instant updates on your cash flow. You can see your cash account balance and expected receivables or payables to get a clear image of your gross profit. Moreover, Sage 50 Cloud lets you get a granular look at your finances by customizing the cash flow settings.

Payments and Banking: Sage 50 cloud allows you to see the payable accounts and offers banking features like regular transaction feeds, account reconciliation and online payment. Moreover, you can eliminate the manual entry with Sage 50 Cloud as it’s integrated with a pre-built asset management system.

Advanced Inventory Management: Sage 50 Cloud offers an inventory management system, allowing you to view quantities on hand and execute purchase orders accurately on time. You can track costs and product lists using Sage 50 Cloud to input transactions. Additionally, Sage 50 Cloud automatically computes the price and quantity by item code, adjusting the inventory accordingly.

Job Costing: Sage 50 Cloud offers greater insight into your ongoing jobs and projects, allowing you to see where you’re spending your budget. Moreover, you can estimate the net revenue on every project, set up job records or print project reports for clients. Sage 50 Cloud lets you use cost codes and generate relevant information, enabling you to adjust the budget before the project completion.

Payroll: Sage 50 Cloud simplifies your payroll procedures by offering direct deposits and pay cards. You can monitor employee records and the tax status of the staff under your payroll. Sage 50 Cloud allows you to manage vacations or pay wages at an hourly rate within its accounting platform.

Sage 50 Cloud Pricing

Sage 50 Cloud offers 3 Pricing options for its accounting and payroll management tools.

The “Pro Accounting” plan is priced at $33/month and offers one user account. Additionally, you can use invoice and bill tracking, Reporting tools and Sage Security Shield.

The “Premium Accounting” plan is priced at $55/month/user and is expandable to upto five user accounts. Additionally, you can use advanced budgeting tools, audit trails and industry-specific functionality.

The “Quantum Accounting” plan is priced at $91/month/user and is expandable to upto 40 user accounts. Additionally, you can do workflow management and use advanced job costing.

5. ZipBooks

ZipBooks is a simple, powerful and intuitive accounting platform that gives you the tools and intelligence to upgrade your business. It saves your time from doing mundane Bookkeeping tasks by offering automation and intelligent insights. ZipBooks is an ideal entry-level solution for freelancers or firms looking for accounting software.

ZipBooks Features

Here are some exclusive features of ZipBooks:

Accounts Receivable: ZipBooks tracks receivable accounts and keeps accurate customer records. Moreover, it automatically updates the revenue earned and amounts owed in your accounts receivable report. You can manually edit any transaction outside ZipBooks into the database and gain thoughtful feedback on which clients regularly pay within a reasonable timeframe.

Bank Connect and Reconciliation: ZipBooks offers Bank connectivity and automatically streams your transactions on its platform after account verification. Moreover, you can view the current balance of your bank account plus the confirmed transactions in ZipBooks to make reconciling easier. 

Auto-Categorization: ZipBooks eliminates the repetitive data entry tasks from the bookkeeping and accounting process. It combines your work with research from other users and best accounting practices. Once done, it automatically categorizes your transactions. ZipBooks is an intelligent platform that uses Machine learning to learn your usage patterns and evolve accordingly.

Chart of Accounts: ZipBooks offers a chart of accounts, organizing everything in one central location. Here you can view the total inventory amount and overdue payments. Moreover, you can personalize additional account categories for your business.

Reporting: ZipBooks offers a snapshot of general payment trends and a balance sheet to document your assets, liabilities and equities. It calculates your profits and creates balance sheets that reflect periodic financial data. Additionally, you can highlight crucial aspects of your report and analyze all categories within your chart of accounts.

ZipBooks Pricing

ZipBooks offers 4 Pricing options for its accounting and reporting platform.

The “Free” plan is priced at $0 and connects with one bank account. Additionally, it offers unlimited invoices, basic reports, vendor and customer management and PayPal integration.

The “Smarter” plan is priced at $15/month and offers 5 team member accounts. Additionally, it provides reminder automation, multiple bank connectivity, time tracking and invoice scheduling.

The “Sophisticated” plan is priced at $35/month and offers unlimited user invitations. Additionally, it provides smart tagging, category customization, quick reconciliation and insightful reports.

The “Accountant” plan offers an on-demand pricing quote. It provides time tracking across client accounts, data migration, dashboard and transaction editing.

Why use Accounting Software at all?

Finance management plays an intrinsic part for every business; in driving growth and boosting revenue. Your finances include everyday transactions, tax returns, lease costs, business revenue and other operational expenditures. Having a dedicated tool to automate the reconciliation and transaction tracking can help you optimize your financial health.

Accounting software enables you to automate and digitize your entire finance management. You can track transactions, accurately reconcile accounts and calculate tax returns. With accounting software, your business can be more stable financially, and you can expand swiftly to grow your revenue.

Why should you use Accounting Software in the UK?

The UK has comparatively less stringent tax laws, with the business required to file a return of 19% every year. However, The UK is considerably expensive and running a business requires efficient financial management.

Having accounting software enables you to automate your tax returns and allocate a budget towards every client project or marketing campaign to avoid overspending. With accounting software, you can get an overview of the cash flow in your business and gain a better understanding of; your finances.

Accounting software allows you to regulate your company’s finances. Apart from automating tax calculation and filing, it automates bank reconciliations, transaction source tracking and financial analysis. You can use the reporting tools to gain deeper insights and make necessary changes to increase revenue.

With accounting software, you can successfully maximize your company’s potential by reducing expenditures and serving a larger clientele. It ensures you can focus on growing instead of tracking transactions or filing returns.

Accounting Software for the UK, A Summary

The UK is a first-world country, meaning it’s highly expensive to start a business from the ground. On top of that, you have to stay in line with the tax regulations. Accounting software helps you track transactions to manage finances and automatically calculates and files your tax returns.

Xero offers high scalability and quality accounting features that let you grow swiftly. It is our suggested pick for accounting software in the UK. Visit the website to get started.

What Accounting Software would you recommend?

In short, It’s Melio.com

It provides your business customers with a convenient payment link, enabling them to make quick and hassle-free payments without the need for invoice attachments. They can pay using their preferred method, and the payments will be directly deposited into your bank account each time.

“🚀Try Melio.com For Free, It’s my favorite Accounting Software to use and recommend.” -Scott Max

Melio is an intuitive Accounting software that offers comprehensive solutions through its powerful tools. Designed for businesses of all sizes, Melio simplifies complex financial tasks and delivers impressive outcomes. Melio seamlessly integrates features tailored to your: Billing, Payments, Vendor Management, Expenses, and Financial Reporting needs.

For more details, read our Melio.com Review.